no more eggs

So I have some depressing news. I can’t eat eggs anymore.

The depressing part is that this isn’t by choice. The non-depressing part is that, in the grand scheme of life….wait, life without eggs?!

And honestly, it hasn’t even really sunk in yet. I’ve been finding good alternatives (like gelato instead of ice cream and just mayo instead of mayonnaise) but I do feel a twinge of jealousy when I see delicious-looking brunch recipes or a poached egg.

What happened? For the last 5ish (?!) years, I’ve had on and off-stomach issues. I’d take enzymes, sip kombucha, swallow peppermint pills (in addition to my probiotics) and contemplate brown rice-only diets and then it would go away and I’d forget about it. This past winter, after some really bad days, I decided to finally do something about it. I went to the doctor. No answer. I went to the Gastroenterologist and left with a prescription and an endoscopy appointment. (No answer.)

Right before my scheduled endoscopy, I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine who had similar issues. She took some food intolerance tests and urged me to do the same. And after thinking about it for a little while, I decided that I wanted to pursue a more holistic route. I wasn’t ok with automatic pills and procedures that I had a feeling wouldn’t lead to any answers. I figured my issues stemmed from food, but I was never able to pinpoint it to a certain food.

So I took some tests (blood and others!) and my results were…surprising. No reactions to the common suspects like dairy, soy or gluten. I had really high responses to eggs (both yolk and whites) and green beans.

OH! You mean the foods I eat ALL THE TIME!? I eat (ate) a ton of eggs and definitely had green beans on a weekly basis. I was a little shocked, but it was the beginning of an answer so I was ready to explore further. Next, I cut out eggs and green beans for two weeks, which actually took four weeks because I kept accidentally eating foods that contain eggs! It made me realize just how many eggs (and products containing eggs) I was eating – A LOT! And if you want to see an example of that, check out all of the posts that mention eggs.

Then, after that egg-free period, I re-introduced them to see what happened. After a glorious day of eating breakfast at eggslut, deviled eggs, fresh egg pasta AND a cupcake…I got a rash all over my back and chest. And now, whenever I eat eggs (once it even happened after a mayo-based salad!), I get a rash, almost immediately. I haven’t tried green beans yet (to see if I have a reaction), but for now, I’m ok not having them.

And that’s how I determined I can’t eat eggs. I’ll still eat a few bites every now and then because I can deal with the rash, but I know what happens if I have too many of them and I definitely don’t want to go back to that.

Why tell you? Because mainly, I thought you might find it interesting! But also, I want to recommend the Naturopathic route if you’ve ever considered it. I have to pay for the visits and tests out of pocket (which is so frustrating because I know seeing her cost SO much less than all of the tests I would have taken going the traditional route) but she is so thorough, thoughtful and the Naturopathic route just makes sense to me. (More info on Naturopathic Medicine)

Do you know what about the eggs and beans cause the issues? As I have been dealing with all my sinus issues I have done as much natural as possible, sometimes you have to do traditional but I like to mix the two.

I don’t, I have an allergy to something in eggs (and its both whites and yolks) and I think the stomach issues were due to constantly eating a food that I shouldn’t have been. (I haven’t had the stomach issues since I cut out the foods) It seems like you have exhausted all options with your sinus issues…but you might be surprised by visiting a Naturopathic Dr. and it could be at least worth exploring?!

I’ve tried chia in both! It works better with veg cakes (because they tend to be more watery) than salmon (which sorta crumbled on me) – I think chia just ends up with less moisture than an actual egg.

Hi Emily, Thank you for this post. I too have stomach issues and never thought it could be related to a particular food. I live in the LA area, as well. I’d love to know the name of your Naturopath. Do you feel comfortable in referring me? Thank you, Eydie

Hi Emily, Thank you for this post. I too have stomach issues and never thought it could be related to a particular food. I live in the LA area, as well. I’d love to know the name of your Naturopath. Do you feel comfortable in referring me? Thank you, Eydie

I don’t know if you enjoy baking much, but “The Joy of Vegan Baking” is a great book that might help you get started. I tried a primarily vegan diet for a long time, and some of the egg replacers that I used included pureed silken tofu, Ener-G, ground flax seeds whipped with water, cornstarch mixed with water, mashed banana, or applesauce. (It depends on whether you need the egg for binding and/or leavening.)

I’m sorry to hear this! No fun having to give up a food because of health issues. That being said, I was thinking of experimenting with cutting out eggs, too, because of some stomach funkiness…I’ll be just as sad if I come up with the same result! What will we eat at brunch?? Steak and eggs, no eggs, extra steak? 😉